WHY IS DEEP BREATHING
IMPORTANT?
Although breathing is something that keeps
you alive, there are also many benefits to
breathing properly that many people do not
know. Further, there are ways to breathe that
are more efficient for the body and mind.
This article will cover a few reasons why deep
breathing is so important, and also a few ways
that can help you establish a good, effective
breathing routine.
Benefits of Deep Breathing (Correlational):
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Lowers Heart Rate
Lowers/Stabilizes Blood Pressure
Reduces Stress
Minimizes Sympathetic Nervous System
Use
Lowers Negative Affect
Strengthens Diaphragm
Increases Parasympathetic Nervous
System Use
Increases Oxygen Consumption
Increases Relaxation
Improves Present-Moment Focus
Studies have found the relation between deep
breathing and these benefits, giving a great
amount of research on the importance of
deep (or diaphragmatic) breathing. Here is an
explanation of how to actually breathe using
your diaphragm:
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1. Lying down on your back is one of the
easiest ways to learn this.
2. Place 1 hand on your belly and 1 hand on
your chest.
3. As you inhale through your nose, feel your
bottom hand going towards the ceiling.
Your top hand (chest) should remain still.
If this is difficult for you to feel, continue
to work on the feeling of your ribs going
away from each other.
4. Hold that breath for 2-3 seconds.
5. As you exhale (preferably through your
nose), slowly breathe out to bring your
stomach back down towards your spine.
In order to start the relaxation response,
the exhale should be longer than the inhale
(this is why I prefer exhalation through the
nose).
6. Continue this form of breathing for 3-5
minutes to begin to lower your heart rate.
7. Once you learn to do this lying down,
transition the intensity by sitting up, then
standing, then walking, then running.
8. Here is a good breathing ratio to start with,
the numbers counting as seconds:
a. 2 (inhale)-4 (pause)-4 (exhale), 3-6-6,
4-8-8, 5-10-10
b. Increase the number of seconds as you
become better over time.
This short article on breathing is a great start
for you to implement breathing practices into
your life! An amazing app to use for conscious
breathing practice (that I personally use on a
daily basis) is called “State: Breathing”.
This is an intuitive and simple way to improve
your diaphragmatic breathing overtime.